Tag Archives: speakers

Post navigation

The Boombot PRO has a little more to it than just good looks and fancy zinc trim. Chris and I have worked on this design since the first Boombot REX came out in 2013. We’re going to share our process so you can understand what really makes the PRO our best of class.

ACOUSTICS

While the REX sounds awesome and has a ton of punch, we put a big emphasis on trying to bring the bass response to life on this unit. We were capped out on the 36mm drivers on the Boombot REX. We bumped up the speaker sizes to 40mm and wattage went from 3W to 5W. The larger drivers had stronger bass response, so we were able to do away with the passive radiator in favor of increasing the air space in the speaker cabinet. When we saw the impact we were having by increasing air volume, we rounded out the front of the speaker housing to buy even more. The result was an increase in bass response of over 50%. The moment you turn the PRO on, you’ll notice a fuller, deeper and richer sound than the Boombot REX.

INTERNAL POWER

Internally, we have two high fidelity drivers pushing a lot more power than the Boombot REX Managing the power and reducing noise is key as you add power. Rather than driving two speakers with one amp, we built in dual amps that drive each speaker separately. This not only allowed us to push a true stereo configuration but it also improved the clarity on each driver.

HYBRID PLAYBACK

The Boombot PRO incorporates hybrid playback with Chambers mode as a standard feature. Having 2GB of internal storage allows the Boombot PRO to operate completely untethered from a handset. We thought this was especially useful for applications where we’d have exposure to water.

WATERPROOFING

On the Boombot PRO, you’ll notice the texture is slightly different from our other products. The entire outside is done in a rubber over-mold. This is a process where you double-tool the mold. While this process is more expensive in tooling, it also ensures that the housing is full protected from elements. The new double-tooled mold also increased the housing structure and air sealing which ultimately had a positive impact on acoustics as well. The process makes the Boombot PRO more drop resistant than anything we’ve ever made, and of course, fully waterproofed. You will notice that we’ve eliminated the beloved 3.5mm auxiliary jack. Part of this choice was to make waterproofing easier, and part of it was just because it’s 2015- we’re dedicated to wireless.

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

At Boombotix, we’re never really done with our design.. That’s prompted us to look for future weight reduction plans. The door that currently covers the micro-USB does the job of sealing, but we’re also looking to make that a little easier to snap into place. If you have any other suggestions on design refinements for the future Boombot PRO, please let us know!

The Greenhouse effect

I’m happy to announce a limited edition Bot we’ve been working on since this morning over a bowl of cereal. I would love to tell you what kind of cereal, but I totally don’t want us to get sued. Let’s just call it ‘RaptainRunch’ and leave it at that.

It’s been just one week into our campaign and we are stoked to see that we’re more than two thirds into our goal. We got picked up by TechCrunch and MacRumors, which certainly helped get some early momentum. Thanks to Wade Roush at XConomy for working with me on doing an interview. We’re also really stoked to see our loyal fans taking care of the Holiday shopping with the Boombots through the campaign.

better app demo

Some people were a little bit confused by Chris and I getting our groove on from the mountain in our previous app demo so we put together this piece that more clearly demonstrates using this app with two devices and Bluetooth speakers.

the battle ahead

On the app development, Chinmay is working on making the whole Soundcloud library browsable within the app. Right now you can link your Soundcloud account and pull off your own playlists, but we’d like to allow users to search the full Soundcloud ecosystem within the app. This would wrap up our Soundcloud integration and we can then move to Spotify. We’ve had tons of inquiries on our Android development, but we really just want to make sure we can nail the iOS version of SYNC first.

There is still a pretty long grind to get this project past the funding milestone, but we’re confident we can make it happen. We added a pretty cool backer rewards including prototypes of the new lunchbox sized Thumper Mini PA. We’re hoping we can pick up a couple more press wins to drive some more traffic to the campaign. Nick is working on a short format trailer style piece to get out to some of the press that was interested. Gaining the attention of the press has always been vital to the success of these crowdfunding campaigns. Word of advice would be to really make sure you have phenomenal content to send your press outlets. You only get one shot.

SketOne, Uberpup, and DGPH put a graphic assault on the Boombot speaker

This winter we are excited to be launching a new incarnation of Boombots: the Artist Series. By teaming up with a group of designers from around the globe, the Artist Series has given a brand new look to ultraportable speakers. UberPup (London) incorporated graphic mayhem to her piece to exemplify her propensity towards mass chaos. DGPH (Argentina) rolled out an entire set of post-modern abstract work in three amazing palettes. Sket One (Los Angeles) delivered a pad print design called Mr. Grimey that completely put a new face on wireless audio. For a product that originated from urban vinyl toy design, the Artist Series salutes the design roots of the product.

The Artist Series Boombots come in Bluetooth enabled versions (UberPup and Sket One designs) and wired models. Housed in ruggedized ABS shells and featuring an integrated clip, Boombots allow your music to be taken with you, anytime, anywhere. Boombots include medical-grade rechargeable batteries, dynamic frequency response, and a no-matter-what one-year warranty. The Bluetooth models retail for $79.99 and wired models for $54.99. The Artist Series is available through boombotix.com and select retailers.

A portion of all sales will go towards the hungry artists. Help us feed them.

Is it just me or is this CG product render to dubstep music become the standard way to introduce some “groundbreaking” product? I suppose that is one way you can attempt to give all of these amorphous blobs hitting the market a little more personality. Sometimes I worry that we’ve hit this age where industrial design has become scared to make a line or curve and we’re going to have to have a shape renaissance. Groundbreaking or not, the Cocoon likely thumps the floor to the tune of 100 watts. Sonos might wanna keep an eye out as the Denon Cocoon incorporates Wifi connectivity in the at-home version.

There’s nothing ultraportable about this thing, and the thought of having some mud and beer splash on there makes me cringe. We’ll stick to our speakers.